Why would not these two people be able to vote?

When Mosarrap Khan left for US to do his PhD in 2007, little did he
realise he would voting in three general India — the Lok Sabha
and 2014 and Bengal elections of 2011. Back India now and a
professor of English and post-colonial theory at a private
university in Punjab, Khan says he would have to skip voting in
2019, too for it will be difficult for him to travel to his home
town of Kolkata, where is registered as a voter.

“When I left for New York, my plans were fluid. So, I didn’t know
when and where I was going to return. It was in 2016 that I came
back but have been at a loss as to what I should do to vote. I am
reluctant to shift my voting registration to Punjab for I may not
settle here for long. It would have been convenient if I could
somehow vote from here. Indians in US are now allowed to why can’t
those who are outside their home within the country?” asks he
refers to a bill NRIs to register to vote by proxy that is pending
clearance in Rajya Sabha. He says it be ‘impractical’ for him to
leave in the middle of a college and fly back to Kolkata just to
vote. “There are thousands of Kolkatans like me who are working in
cities across the country. Not even 5% of them can travel back to
vote. But why should they be denied the right? Our opinion also
counts and we want to vote,” said Khan.

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Talking about his colleagues and friends in Delhi and Punjab, he
says, “Many of us in the teaching profession have our political
commitments. And we have our views, too, which are often
Bengal-centric. So, it makes sense to let us be a part of the
polling process in Kolkata, where we come from. It’s easy to
develop an online system or maybe have booths where people like me
can vote for our home constituency,” Khan reasons.

But him and his colleagues’ votes aside, he believes it’s an even
bigger loss for the state that millions of migrant workers are
perhaps unable to vote. “In terms of numbers, they are a big chunk
of the electors. I don’t think even half of them return to vote.
But they should be voting for policies that affect their lives,”
Khan said.

‘Only a long weekend will let me go home to
vote’

Akshat Sharma felt a sense of pride when he was registered as voter
some eight years back. But that has been replaced by a sort of
vexation because he has till date “not been able to vote and the
possibility of doing so this time too appears slim”.

A corporate manager with Nagpur Metro, Sharma has been residing in
the city for three years. He hails from Jaipur and is registered as
a voter in the Rajasthan capital. At the time of the 2014 elections
he was in Bengaluru. “The connectivity by air isn’t that great and
it is difficult to get reservations on trains. So, it is almost
impossible to go back home for elections,” he says. “This time I’m
hoping it’ll be a long weekend so that I can combine some leave and
reach Jaipur in time to vote,” he says, adding that there are few
train connections and the cost of flying to Jaipur from Nagpur is
prohibitive as there are no direct flights.

Sharma gets homesick during elections when he hears family members
share their experience of voting. “It is such an important duty in
a democracy but I am being deprived of it as there is no way for me
to vote from wherever I am residing,” he says.

Sharma agrees that the scale and size of Indian elections makes it
a daunting task to have a system for people to vote from anywhere,
but points out that technology and digitisation can make it
possible. “The way in which we pay our bills, book our tickets and
even write our exams have all changed drastically over the last
five years. The Election Commission should now take cognisance of
these lost
votes and come up with a solution,” he says.

As someone who follows politics and current affairs quite keenly,
Sharma says he would like to get involved in the process of
electing governments. “We take pride in the fact that we can elect
or oust governments. Our vote is a precious right which allows us
to do that. Losing out on the opportunity to vote only because I
can do it from nowhere else but where I am registered kind of curbs
that right,” he says.